Thought I would add today some detail about how I am treating the rust. Might be of interest to some?

My pvc pipe with vinegar and citric acid was going to cost too much to make in a big quantity. So this time just using a stronger citric acid solution. I picked up a 25 kg/55 lb bag of it from a farm supply place. E.E. Muir & Sons - They use it a lot in wine making to clean out the stainless steel tanks after using caustic soda. Can also get it from pool supply places, or where you might buy ingredients to make bath bombs etc.

It just looks like sugar. Can get it in two forms, anhydrous or monohydrate. Either works the same so get what ever is the cheapest. I used anhydrous and got a 25 kg bulk bag for the same price as 5 kg ones sold else where!

I used half a bag to make up just over a 5% solution in a bath tub that was given to me. The bath held 225 litres/59 US gallons to which I added 12.5 kg/27.5 lb of citric acid. I found the volume of 1 kg of the acid took the same amount of space in the bucket as 1 litre of water that was marked up the side.

I had carried buckets of hot water to the shed to help dissolve the citric acid. I counted the buckets as well so I knew how much water it held. I added a bit of acid at a time and stirred it until it dissolved.

The bath is not deep enough for the whole wall to be done at once. I have coated the wall above the water line with lanolin to stop it rusting while the rest gets done. You can dip your bare hands into this ratio if you have not cuts etc. Can tingle a bit, but washing with soap stops it. Gloves are a better idea.

Just to show how well this works, I just threw in a pair of Willys headlight buckets also.

These have not been touched at all with any treatment before going in.

Took this shot after 2 days and they have not been disturbed at all. The rust is just falling off!

Day three doesn't look that much different so decided to pull them out and see if it was long enough. The more acid you use, the quicker it will go.

This is what the inside looked like just before scrubbing started.

Just used a nylon washing up brush.

All the rust is just washing off.

It wont remove paint unless it is flaky or not well laid down in the first place. I found some areas with over spray on other parts, just washed off. It does soften the paint though and a bit of scrapping usually gets most off

I use a stainless steel scourer for a bit better job.

To neutralise the acid I just added a couple of tablespoons of bi-carb soda to some hot water. Same as baking soda but not baking powder. This step is especially important where any acid could be trapped and not easy washed away with water.

Need to dry it as quickly as possible to stop flash rust. Use an air gun or propane torch etc to dry it. Then it must be coated straight away in primer or some thing else. I use lanolin myself as wont be painting for some years yet.

Quite a difference from what I started with 3 days earlier.

The left one I ran the wire wheel over as well so why a bit brighter than the other.

The wall was turned over after washing off the acid. Also the lanolin was removed with thinners so it doesn't stop the acid from working on the non dipped part. Lanolin was rubbed on the part that has already been done.

Thought I would add today some detail about how I am treating the rust. Might be of interest to some?

My pvc pipe with vinegar and citric acid was going to cost too much to make in a big quantity. So this time just using a stronger citric acid solution. I picked up a 25 kg/55 lb bag of it from a farm supply place. E.E. Muir & Sons - They use it a lot in wine making to clean out the stainless steel tanks after using caustic soda. Can also get it from pool supply places, or where you might buy ingredients to make bath bombs etc.

It just looks like sugar. Can get it in two forms, anhydrous or monohydrate. Either works the same so get what ever is the cheapest. I used anhydrous and got a 25 kg bulk bag for the same price as 5 kg ones sold else where!

I used half a bag to make up just over a 5% solution in a bath tub that was given to me. The bath held 225 litres/59 US gallons to which I added 12.5 kg/27.5 lb of citric acid. I found the volume of 1 kg of the acid took the same amount of space in the bucket as 1 litre of water that was marked up the side.

Can you comment about how this mixture would work on cleaning bare aluminum like cooling fins?

Thanks for the interest on the last update. Wasn't sure if it was off topic or not, but figured I would like to see the behind the scenes stuff, so to speak, as well when reading a build thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by suzieque

Can you comment about how this mixture would work on cleaning bare aluminum like cooling fins?

I have not tried aluminium myself as thought is would dissolve it, but someone else did last week and said it didn't? He did not say what it did or how thick it was. Sorry but can't help more than that at the moment.

Decided to have a go at beating out the big dent at the B pillar rather than cutting it out and putting in a patch panel.

Thought it would be easier to remove the whole pillar so I could get access to it.

Roughed out the dent by hammering directly onto the bench. Started in the middle as read the best way it to reverse the impact. To straighten the fold I clamped it along the edge of the table and used a slapping file.

After just using the bench I switched to a dolly as a backer, selecting the one closest to the undamaged curve.

Getting there but actually has to be curved outwards some after checking the good side for comparison.

To get it past just straight, used a domed hammer on the inside and a palm beater bag filled with brickies sand on the outside.

Just about there but need to weld up the holes, which will cause some shrinkage, and then will also sharpen that fold.

Came up pretty well. Have only used a light sanding block to help see the highs and lows. Will leave it at that for now and later maybe try filing it and use a shrinking disc on it.

The panel after being in the acid bath.

Good demonstration of how well the acid works as can see it was not quite deep enough for the whole sill. Will dip that bit now.

The other corner panel has some rust issues as well as this dent. The sill has also been damaged and not very well hammered back out at one stage.

Doesn't show well in the photo, but the blocking hammer I used had a matching curve on the head to the panel.

A couple of minutes and looking a lot better already. That part was done over the beater bag.

Switched to hitting over the bench and only the bottom edge to go. Just trying out different techniques to see which way works best. Good fun learning.

Looking pretty good and getting faster at doing this. Will weld up the cut at the bottom and the other drill holes before deciding how best to tackle the rust holes.

Back to posting an update. Just could not get the time to work on it last week but have had some time since. Was not sure if to show all of this or not, as might be seen as a failure by some, but I saw it as a good training exercise even if it ended up going in a different direction by the end of it.

I bought a 1947 CJ2a Willys tailgate in the US and got the centre cut out of it and sent over for me. My thought was to use the centre raised part with the Willys stamped into it to replace the old cowl vent. I wanted to keep some detail there rather than have it just plain if I filled it in.

Then I wondered what it would look like to try and replace the whole centre cowl panel with the tailgate piece. Would need quite a bit of shaping though as you can see. Made even harder by the fact it had those big ribs in it and it is 1.6 mm, or 16 gauge steel.

The cowl not only curves from top to bottom but also left to right creating a compound curve.

I started by hamming out the rib where it made a right angle turn along the bottom.

Straightened up the edge using a cold chisel.

Also used this wedge dolly to help round the end by hammering it using it as a chaser.

Clamped it upside down to the edge of the bench to straighten it from the inside too.

Come up fairly well.

Did the other side and they now match the factory middle one.

Didn't want the pressing that the tie down loops were on. Done one side already and used heat this time as wanted it to shrink at the same time.

Using a blocking hammer where I could over the beater bag and the curved wedge dolly along the side the ribs to try and curve it.

Can see that I am getting there but still needs more along the flatter part as well as the end.

End is looking pretty good now.

It is the middle I am having problem with because I can't bend the area where the Willys stamp is without risking damaging it.

This piece I am holding above it forms the lower part of the windscreen and needs to be welded to the top of it. I have no where near enough curve in the centre to match it.

Can see the problem here that without trying to curve the Willys stamping, it will never be right. Also starting to think the ribs are too much as well as they are much bigger than the ones on the rest of the body so will look out of place.

So going back to my original idea of just using the Willys stamp and the raised bit it sits on. Just hope I have not ruined the part now with all the beating it has already taken! I cut the outer ribs off and started to flatten out the one in the centre.

Using an old brickies bolster I dressed up the edge.

Brought up the dip it got in the middle as well using the bolster from underneath.

Flattened out the top rib as well and showing how I bring the edge and straighten it after clamping it along the edge of the table.

This it the underside of where the cowl vent sat and where the Willys piece will fill it in.Cut the lip off and found rust so decided to make the cut out larger to get rid of it.

Used a holesaw in each corner as this reduces the distortion as the weld wont be concentrated to a sharp corner.

Hole cut out and the rust gone.

So now I have the final size of the cut out I can start shaping the piece to match the compound curves of the lower part of the cowl.

Dressed it out and it came out better than I though after all that hammering!

This shows how much curve it has left to right along with front to rear. I even got the Willys part to curve as well to blend in better. I will strip the paint from the cowl and then make the final cut to this piece fit the hole.